Been there, Done That
by xPenguinQueenx
Summary: Total Drama Island gets a new girl named Gabbie and as expected, there's the exact same amount of drama as before because she's the only sane one there? And why isn't anyone freaking out, the things that are happening are totally not normal?
1. The start pt 1

Why the hell did I ever think this would be a good idea? I hate reality tv so why would I want to be _on_ it? Stupid Angela and her damn ideas for making money. It's all her fault. She's the one who signed us both up for this thing! So why am I the one who got picked?

"Hey, blondie," The boat driver calls out, bringing me from my thoughts, " We'll be there in less than a minute. Why don't you try to wipe that scowl off your face?"

His words make me even more irritated than I already was, but I take his advice and try for a smile. It's probably best that I don't make my first appearance on national tv with a nasty glare on my face.

"Perfect timing, sweetheart. Here we are." Boat guy speaks up once again. Resting my gaze on the approaching island, I find a dock filled with teenagers and come to the quick realisation that there is a good chance that I'm the last person to arrive. Seeming to almost read my mind, the boat guy informs me, "Don't worry, there's still one left."

I nod to him and pick up my bags, stumbling slightly when the boat comes to a stop. I toss my large bags onto the dock and scramble onto the wooden deck. My legs are still slightly shaky from the ride over.

"And this is Gabriella! The blonde with a biting wit!" A dark haired man with a well defined jawline approaches me, sticking his hand out. _Chris McLean_ , I think to myself. Tentatively, I take it with my own and give him two small shakes before letting go.

"Is that all you could come up with?" I ask, my right eyebrow raised questioningly.

Chris frowns at me, mumbling," I thought it was clever."

I shrug my shoulders at him as if to say ' _if you think so.'_

"Oh," I pipe up, remembering a vital piece of information that Chris needs," It's Gabbie by the way. My father was the only one to call me Gabriella." I see Chris' eye narrow at the 'was' in my sentence, but he thankfully remains quiet.

"Well then, Gabbie," The man booms theatrically, "Welcome to Camp Wawanakwa!"

"Wait…" I thought we were going to a nice hotel or something," This isn't just a meeting point? We're staying here?"

"Nope!" he says rather cheerfully before shoving me towards the others.

I'm pushed right into a red haired girl who catches my elbow, setting me up right.

"Woah! Easy there! You toootally could have gotten a concussion!" She drags the O in the word totally and overall sounds way to happy about my almost concussion," I'm Izzy!"

Okay… note to self; try to stay away from away from Izzy. She seems like the type to murder me in my sleep.

"And this is our last contestant! Everyone welcome Steven!" Apparently I missed the last contestant due to my focus on the craz- Izzy.

I turn to find a blue haired boy who stands close to my height. I stand at a whopping 5'2 so he's on the shorter side. His mouth is turned down in a frown and he glares at the island behind us. I suppose he didn't get the same advice as I did from the boat driver. Or maybe he did and just didn't care. His clothes make him out to be what my mother would call a 'no good ruffian'. Not sure what that means, but anyone who has holes in their jeans and a t-shirt with graphics she couldn't identify was coined her favorite insult. She'd probably call the boy down the line with a mohawk the exact same thing if I'm being honest.

Chris goes to give the boy a handshake, but he merely glances down at the offered hand and scoffs. Chris, unaffected by Steven's attitude, continues with a smile," Welcome to camp wawa-"

"Yeah, whatever." The blue haired boy cuts him off, making Chris' smile look strained.

"Well then!" His smile is stretched too wide to be genuine, "I think it's time for a picture! Group photo!"

We all pile at the end of the dock and I somehow end up in the back, unable to see behind al the taller people. I hear a bark of laughter to my right and find that it came from a dark skinned boy whom I hadn't noticed before.

"What are you doing back here, short stuff?" He asks with a kind smile.

"Got lost," is the only reply I give, shrugging my shoulders slightly.

"You want on my shoulders?" I give him a slightly suspicious look at that. Isn't it kind of weird to let a complete stranger sit on your shoulders?

But he merely points over to the mohawk boy and a guy wearing a red track suit, both climbing onto the larger, blond boy. Well, they don't seem to find it weird to be climbing on a complete stranger.

Seeing that I probably won't be in the picture otherwise, I nod, agreeing to the tall boy's idea. His grin never leaves his face as he helps me up. Settling on his shoulders, I can't help but smile. I'm not used to being able to see the top of other's heads. Unless you count small children.

"I'm DJ by the way," the boy under me says loudly enough for me to hear," Figured you might wanna know since you're kind of on my head."

I let out a small chuckle at his words," My name is Gabbie."

"Well Gabbie, I hope we can be friends." He gives me a hopeful look and I find myself nodding once again at this boy's words.

"Yeah, me too." I tell him honestly.

"Okay! One. Two. Three." And… nothing happened," Okay hang on." Chris repeatedly messes up before taking the picture. I find myself growing tired of waiting and apparently one of the other girls are on the same page as me. Finally, Chris gets the camera working," Say Wawanakwa!"

"Wawanakwa!" We all say the word in unison and I'm smiling despite my previous irritation.

And that's when the dock falls apart.

* * *

Chris separates all of us into two teams after the dock mishap and I can't help but find myself disappointed. I'm put on the screaming gophers and although I don't dislike anyone on my team (I haven't been here long enough to really dislike anyone) I find myself wishing I was on the Killer bass with DJ. Maybe I dodged a bullet by not being on the his team though? I mean, he has crazy red he- Izzy and the scary mohawk guy. I think his name was Duncan. The green haired boy was literally giving a dear a noogie. Who does that….

I tried to remember all the names of my team members by watching closely as Chris called on all of them.

Gwen. The blue haired goth. Very blunt. We would get along I think.

Trent. Guitar guy. Seems cool.

Heather. Angry and long legs. Very long legs

Cody. Gap toothed kid. I like him so far.

Lindsay. She isn't very… bright, but she seems kind.

Beth. Spits on me a lot when she talks.

Katie. Twin number #1

Owen. The big guy who likes hugs

Leshawna. Sassy and loud.

Justin. The best looking person here.

Noah. Quiet and snarky.

Should be easy enough to remember. It's the other team's names that I'll probably have trouble remembering.

We've all made our way to our cabins and are unpacking at this point. I like everyone well enough, besides maybe Heather. She seems to be rather rude.

Claiming one of the beds in our cabin, I set down my bags and check over my clothes. I brought my favorite t-shirts and plenty of shorts. I'm a simple girl, I don't usually need anything fancy. As long as I have my dad's old bomber jacket, I don't worry too much about my clothes. I practically live in the jacket.

A screech that almost gives me ear damage causes me to pause in my musing. Turning around, I find Lindsay on top of a stool in the middle of our cabin.

"Lindsay what are y-" I try to speak, but I'm interrupted by another loud squeal coming from her.

"Roach!" She exclaims, pointing toward my feet.

I look down to find what is indeed a incredibly large roach near my feet. I casually sit down on my bed and pick up my feet. I don't want that thing touching me. I watch the insect in fascinated, disgust. _How in the hell did that roach get so big?_

Suddenly, people burst through our door looking panicked.

"Oh man, that white girl can scream." Leshawna.

"Kill it, kill it, kill it!" Lindsay.

"Ahhhhh!" The scream that sounded like a little girl? DJ.

"That was my bed," Gwen. Poor, poor Gwen has lost her bed due to a large boy's fear of a roach.

There's screaming, and people are scrambling around the room in an attempt to get away from the strangely large bug. Heather and Beth have somehow made it onto the bunk above mine and DJ and Lindsay are standing atop Gwen's now broken bed.

I look up to find no other than Duncan standing in the middle of the room with an axe. Before I can question him, he slams the the sharp metal down onto the bug, ending it's short life.

Everyone stops to stare at the green haired boy in shock and all I can do is quietly ask him in shock," Why?"

He looks up to me and shrugs.

I shake my head, hearing Gwen and Harold comment about the cockroach. I'm also pretty sure Justin is flirting with Lindsay, but I'm trying to block them all out.

"Well, Gabbie," I mumble under my breath," Welcome to camp."

* * *

"I've heard the jokes they make about camp food, but this actually doesn't look edible," My comment makes Gwen laugh and like I originally thought, Gwen and I seem to get along pretty well.

"I'm pretty sure mine is still alive," she says and I snort, amusement clear on my face. I go to poke her meal only for it to move away from my finger. Gwen and I glance up at each other in shock," We tell no one about this."

I nod my head," Agreed."

We don't talk about it for the rest of our meal, instead conversing about our hobbies. Gwen tells me about her love of horror movies and how she wishes she could play an instument. I in return tell her of my love for music as well.

"I sing and act," I tell Gwen," But lately I've just been playing video games and reading. Not many musicals around my town that I wanna be in right now."

I can see the surprise on her face, no matter how hard she tries to hide it," Musicals, huh? Didn't uh.. Take you for the type."

"Type?" I ask, even though I know where she's going with this. It's not the first time.

"Well, you kind of look like the popular cheerleader. Not the musical nerd, if you know what I mean."

And I do know what she means. I'm blonde and athletic with light blue eyes. I match the description of a high school cheerleader to a T, "I might have been like that if it hadn't been for my father," I admit. He's the only reason I started theater. I took it up as a distraction.

She opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by none other than our host, Chris McLean," Time for your first challenge!"

I hear Heather groan from across the table and I have to say, I definitely share her ire right now.

"Come on Bass," Steven jumps up from his seat, smirking," Let's kick their asses!"

"Well," I drawl unhappily, sliding out of my seat and looking at my teammates," Let's do this."

* * *

 **A concept that has been done many, many times before. A new girl comes to camp and tries to to win the money and makes friends along the way. I'm hoping I can write an interesting narrative once I get the introduction out of the way! And I'll tell you in advance that this story won't be an oc/duncan story like most others. If there's any shipping going on it'll probably be Gabbie/Courtney or Gabbie/Cody.**

 **Anyways, If you plan on sticking around to read, then welcome to the story! I'm hoping to keep your interest in this :)**


	2. The start pt 2

Oh hell no. This is cruel and unusual punishment. And what does he mean he thinks it's shark free?

"We're all gonna die," I tell my team. The killer bass are starting to jump and I'm just waiting for the first death.

"Don't worry," The big guy, Owen, tells me," I heard they have the interns do the stunts first!"

"Yeah?" I ask," Where are all the interns at?"

His mouth opens for a moment before quickly closing again.

"Don't scare him like that, white girl." Leshawna has an amused look on her face," We still need him to jump."

'Right," I turn to the large boy once again," I'll jump if you do?"

Owen turns to me grinning," You got yourself a deal uh…" He trails off.

"Gabbie," Gwen tells him, looking decidedly disinterested with the killer bass team jumping. Or rather, lack of jumping. DJ apparently decided to forgo the day's challenge. Poor guy.

"Gabbie. You've got yourself a deal Gabbie." Owen sticks his hand out and I take it in my own, shaking it twice.

Smiling, I turn toward the cliff to see how many killer bass are left. Steven has just jumped and the only two left are a brunette and the other twin. Courtney and Cadey, I think?

"Excuse me, Chris? I have a medical condition." Courtney crosses her arms as she speaks.

"What medical condition?" He asks skeptically.

"One that prevents me from jumping off cliffs," She scowls.

I snort and completely miss Chris' response to the girl. Whatever it was it must not have been good because she walks away with a chicken hat. Just like DJ.

I wonder if it's worth it to jump off this freaking cliff. Maybe it would be best to just chicken out and meet my team at the bottom… But the first challenge is probably one of the easiest and if I can't even do the first then I can kiss my chances of winning goodbye…

"Izzy, You're on the screaming gophers."

Wait. What?

"Gabbie! We're on a team together!" Oh my god, crazy girl is going to be sharing a room with me? She wouldn't, like, murder me in my sleep would she?

"Great!" I muster a grin, but I'm not sure it looks believable.

"Alright! Screaming gophers, if you can beat that, we'll throw in a pull cart to put your crates on." Chris you demented man.

"Nice," Trent grins at us," Who wants to go first?"

There's absolute silence from our team. We all exchange glances and no one seems to want to step up to plate and so I decide that even if I get voted off tonight, at least I'll be remembered at the first gopher to step off that cliff.

"I'll do it." I step forward and everyone's eyes follow me.

"Woah," Cody, the gap-toothed boy, gapes at me," that's really brave. The code meister digs it."

I stare at him oddly," Um… Thank you?"

He shoots me finger guns until trent pulls them down with his hand, shaking his head at the boy.

"Alright!" Chris grabs my shoulder and steers me toward the cliff," First up for the screaming gophers! Gabbie!"

"Wish me lu-"But I don't get to finish because Chris slaps my back and sends me sailing offs the cliff. I'm really starting to think that guy doesn't like us.

"Ahhhhhh!" My scream echoes down the cliffside and there's absolutely nothing graceful about my fall. My limbs flail and my left heel hits a rock at one point, scraping the bottom of my foot. It feels like forever, but I eventually get to the bottom and hit the water face first.

I claw my way to the surface, taking in deep breaths. A boat comes by and it's only then that I realize that I have landed in the safe zone. I let out a small whoop before coughing. I swim over to the boat where someone is there to pull me up.

"Thanks," I offer, distracted by the small pain in my foot.

"Not a problem," The man tells me," We're gonna go ahead and take you to shore since you're injured."

It's then that I realize that my heel is bleeding. He hands me a roll of bandages and leaves to go back to the wheel of the boat. With a clack the boat starts moving in the direction of the beach where the other team is.

It takes us a few minutes, but we arrive before anyone else on my team has jumped and I'm left wondering why no one else has jumped yet.

"Here we are, darling. Off ya go" The man tells me as we pull up to the shore.

I merely nod and hop off the boat and onto the sand, wincing as the small grains find themselves a spot in my wounded heel. I try to walk on the upper part of my foot so as not to disturb the scratched skin.

"Gabbie!" A familiar voice calls. Looking around, I find DJ jogging toward me, chicken hat and all.

I can't help the smile that appears at his wardrobe choice," Hey DJ, nice hat."

He mock pouted," Aw come on now, is that anyway to treat a guy who was about to offer to carry a wounded friend?"

My eyebrow raises in shock,"Oh, well, no. I guess not."

He grins and before I can say anything else, he has me in his arms, carrying me as if I'm a five year old.

"How did you know I was injured?" I ask him as we come up to his teammates.

"We all saw you hit the rock," he tells me, setting me down on a large rock that the Killer bass has surrounded.

"Plus you're bleeding everywhere," Duncan snarks.

I look down to my foot to find that he's right," Oh."

"Let's hope you didn't attract the sha-" Duncan is cut off by a shrieking Heather. Huh, didn't think she would be one of the ones to jump. Either way, I'm just glad someone finally jumped.

"That needs to be covered," someone grabs the bandages out of my hand," and something tells me you don't know how to do it, do you?"

My gaze finds Courtney's, who stands in front of me with one hand on her hip and the other waving the stolen bandages.

"I guess not," I tell her. She nods, kneeling in the sand and taking my leg, "Thank you."

She gives me a brilliant smile," It's no problem. I'm a CIT."

I nod and glance around. DJ's teammates are a… unique bunch. Although, I suppose mine are as well.

"Don't be a damn shimp. I used to get stabbed all the time and I didn't use bandages." Steven calls from over by the strange, homeschooled boy.

We all give him a strange look at his words and even Courtney stops in her wrapping to stare at the boy.

"You got stabbed...and didn't go to the hospital?" Courtney asks.

"Shrimp?" I whisper.

The boy in the cowboy hat turns his gaze on me at that," Really? You're not even a little concerned about the last part of his sentence?"

I shrug, not seeing why cowboy hat was so incredulous. The guy was definitely insulting me and I wanted to know what that insult meant.

"Well here comes the rest of your team," DJ informs me. He points to the small group of teenagers making their way towards us. The only ones missing are Trent, Beth, and Owen.

"Perfect timing," Courtney says tightening the bandages on my foot as she finishes wrapping them.

DJ offers his arm and I take it, standing. Courtney stands as well and offers me a smile. I thank her profusely and DJ walks me over to my teammates.

As I walk away, I Hear the red-headed guy ask the rest of the Killer Bass," Uh guys? WHy did we help the enemy?"

Multiple people respond over each other, jumping to my defense, but I only hear one coherently above the rest," Cuz she's a girl, homie." I believe the others were all about human decency and whatnot, but I believe the homeschooled boy was the only one to bring my gender into it. Well, I can't say I really care what his reasoning for wanting to help was. As long as he wanted to help, he's in my good books.

Before we get to the others, Trent sails off the end of the cliff.

"What happened to you?" Heather's annoyed voice asks me.

I wave goodbye to DJ and watch him walk away before I respond to her," Hit a rock and almost bled out from my foot."

They all look shocked and Lindsay is the one to ask," Did it hurt, Gandhi?"

I merely shrug, giving her a strange look at the name.

"Alright, Gophers!" Chris' voice interrupts us," You need this one to win."

Oh, Owen!

"C'mon Owen!" I scream. I vaguely notice Heather glaring at me for yelling in her ear, but I pay her no mind as we all start cheering for the large boy at the top of the cliff.

It takes a moment, but eventually we see the blond boy take a running start and leap from the cliff side. I hold my breath and wait for his crash.

When he finally hits the water, he sends Trent away from his previous spot and onto the buoy.

"Yes!" I scream and grab Gwen into a tight hug. She doesn't seem to enjoy the contact so I let her go, but she grins at me afterwards so I know I haven't angered her.

"Guess who gets a pull crate!" Leshawna leaps on top of me in excitement. I laugh along with the bigger girl.

We won the first first of the challenge. Wow, this feels better than I thought it would.

* * *

We end up winning the entire challenge and get a hot tub too. If you ask me, it's actually been a pretty good day. Although, I do realize that there's a good chance of DJ or Courtney going home in less than ten minutes. It would suck considering they're two of the people I actually like on the on the other team. And… Maybe I shouldn't be getting close to people on the other team, but I'm a friendly person. I can't really help it.

"Who do think ith going thonight?" Beth. Even with my eyes closed, I can tell from the spit that now rests on my arm. It could be water from the hot tub…but none of the others have been moving around much so I'm guessing not.

"Well," I try to inconspicuously wipe the wetness away while answering her,"I'm guessing DJ or Courtney. They both chickened out and made them miss out on the pull crate."

Beth looks down in guilt at that.

I pat her arm,"S'okay, Beth. You didn't jump, but you made up for it with the building today."

She looks up and smiles in gratitude," Thanks, Gabbie." More spit.

I sigh slightly, wiping it away," No problem."

She catches the action this time and grimaces slightly. I believe she goes to apologize, but I wave her off, gently smiling at the slightly shorter girl.

I stand and let the hot water drip off me for a moment. I step out of the hot tub and offer a quick goodbye as the other off their own. Deciding that I want to see who left for myself, start toward the campfire. Well, as far as I dare go . I wouldn't want to be spotted, so I stop near the middle of the camp. I spot the first few people start to trickle out of the ceremony. The first to appear are Cowboy hat and his blonde counterpart, Bridgette. The next few are some I don't know the names of. Red headed guy with glasses, Angry looking girl with a mole, and the guy in the red tracksuit. Next to come out are the twins, Katie and Cadey. Finally, one of the faces I'm looking for comes out.

"DJ!" I find myself hugging the much taller boy before I remember that I'm still wet from the hot tub,"Sorry."  
He chuckles."No worries, short stuff."

Duncan and Steven pass us by and I find my worry grow.

"Did Courtney…" But I can't find it in myself to finish the words. I barely know both of these people, but I've already found myself growing attached to them.

"No," A new voice interrupts," I'm still here."

She looks slightly upset still.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are still here," I tell them.

Courtney smiles,"Me too, Gabbie."

* * *

 **So as you can see it won't be just challenges. You'll get all of Gabbie's relationships too. Gabbie is a friendly person who generally likes people. You can get this from how she interacts with her enemy team. She shouldn't want to interact with them, but she does anyways.**

 **As for pairings, we're probably looking at Gabbie/Courtney. If everyone is just completely against this pairing then there probably just won't be any pairings. Leave a review if you have any suggestions or just wanna let me know what you think.**


	3. Take a nap, Gabbie

"Why are we doing this again?" I gasp.

"For fame and money?" Trent barely responds back.

We're probably close to the end of our run, but I honestly can't tell if that's true.

"Screw fame and money,"I pant out, keeping in step with him," I just want to live to twenty. I'm pretty sure this show is messing up those those chances."

The boy barks out a laugh and stumbles slightly before regaining his step again. I shake my head at him in amusement.

In front of me, Lindsay stumbles and I reach out to catch her arm, forcing her upright.

"Wow, thanks, Ghandhi!" Lindsay offers a genuine smile and I hear my running partner trying to stifle a laugh.

I roll my eyes at him, but offer Lindsay a nod," No problem, Lindsay," and under my breath I add," still not my name though."

Lindsay decided that that's her cue to take her leave and so Trent and I start our steady jog back up. Dang, that girl is surprisingly fast. I'm not sure how she's running in those shoes. I mean, I have on my converse and I can barely keep up with Trent and here Lindsay is outrunning the both of us wearing… whatever the hell those high heeled shoes are.

Trent and I run in silence for most of our journey, only occasionally making jokes about the island wildlife due to our lack of breath. Eventually, we make it to our destination point. We definitely aren't the last, but we also aren't the first. There are a few there already like Lindsay, Duncan, Geoff, Courtney, and Eva.

Trent shuffles over to the table that Lindsay is sitting on and flops down onto the floor next to it. Trying to keep some manners, I actually sit on one of the chairs next to the two of them.

As soon as my feet are off the ground, I give a groan of relief. Trent, hearing my noise of appreciation, rolls onto his back to gaze at me.

"It's nice, huh?" He has a lazy smile.

"Oh yeah," I tell him as I stretch,"I'm used to physical activity, just not like that."

There's a questioning look in his eyes," Yeah? Like what?"

"Well, Dancing I guess," When he still looks confused, I continue," People just assume that if you're in a musical, you just have to be able to sing. That's not true though. You have to go through hours of choreography."

"You sing?" He asks me.

I nod, leaning back to rest my head on the table.

"That's cool. I play the guitar, ya know? We should totally have a jam session."

"That sounds nice," I tell him honestly. I close my eyes, glad for the silence in the room," Maybe you can even impress a certain somebody while we're at it." I snicker as he tries to deny my words.

"What? Oh-No! I don't-Gwen and I?"

"I didn't say anything about Gwen," I interrupt him.

He's silent and I peek open an eye to find his face as red as Tyler's track suit. He grumbles before rolling over on his stomach, but I see a small smile on his face so I know I'm not in trouble.

I glance around the room to find that no one had been paying attention to our conversation and Lindsay is too involved with a moth in the center of the room to have cared.

"Hey, Gandhi! Look at that butterfly," Lindsay points to the moth that looks to be half dead sitting in a leftover pile of breakfast from this morning. It takes a small bite of the goop and chews. A second later it falls over and something tells me it won't be flapping it's wings ever again.

"Very nice, Lindsay," I tell the girl as enthusiastically as I can.

I sigh, closing my eyes once again. I can feel myself falling asleep, but I can't find it in myself to care.

"Hey, Lindsay?" I call to the blonde.

"Yeah?" She asks.

"Wake me before the last person gets here, okay?"

"Sure!"

Something deep in my gut tells me that the girl might not be the most reliable person to leave these instructions with, but she's my teammate and I'd like to believe that I can count on her.

* * *

"Gabbie," A hand shakes my shoulder, forcing my eyes open,"You gonna get food?"

"What?" I ask confused.

"The buffet," Gwen repeats, pointing to a large table to the side of the room. That wasn't there when I went to sleep," Did you not hear Chris?"

I shake my head," No, Lindsay was supposed to wake me up and I guess she forgot."

Gwen raises a brow and gives me an unimpressed look," You gave Lindsay that responsibility?"

"It was her or Trent," I say defensively," and Trent was passed out on the floor."

She shrugs and trots off towards the buffet table. I shout a quick thanks in her direction and she offers me a small wave in return, not bothering to take her eyes off the food.

I make my way to the table to get my own plate of food only to find that there isn't much food left. I hurry and stack some turkey and a piece of bread onto my plate before ducking under Owen's searching arm. Looking around, I find Cody has just sat down and decide to join him.

"Hey, Cody," I greet the boy.

He smiles as I sit, looking slightly bemused," Hi!"

"Don't look so shocked, " I chuckle.

"Sorry, just not used to girls wanting to actually converse with me," he informs me with a sheepish grin.

I bark out a laugh,"Probably because you use words like converse."

His cheeks color," Yeah, that's probably true."

"That's okay," I tell him before taking a bite into my bread," I talk like that too."

"You do?" He tilts his head as he asks me this. Hm, like a small, strange puppy.

I nod, swallowing my food," Yeah, I'm a geek too. It's ok. I'm just a LOT more in shape than you."

He chokes on his food and stutters out a complaint at my words," I'm not-You aren't-"

My laughter cuts him off and he just kind of sits there and pouts at me.

"OKAY CAMPERS!" Chris of course. Can he ever just let me have five minutes of piece? "TIME FOR PART TWO OF YOUR CHALLENGE!" Right. Why would the race have been the only part? It's not like they can make anything here easy, can they?

* * *

"Well, there goes Owen," I drawl to the tall girl to my right.

"Are you really surprised that fatso is the first to go?" Heather snarls.

"He did eat the most out of all of us," I concede, frowning slightly at her insult. I had seen the boy's many plates as we were leaving. I think there had to have been at least seven," He was probably exhausted."

Heather huffs and stalks off towards Lindsay and Beth, leaving me alone.

My eyes dart around the area, hoping to find something- or someone- to distract myself with.

Cody seems to be occupied with trying to woo Gwen who only has eyes for Trent. One would think Trent would be irritated with Cody interrupting his and Gwen's alone time, but he seems content to have his friend there.

Heather, who I've noticed has taken a liking to Lindsay and Beth, is whispering to said girls away from the rest of us. Lindsay nods along absently and Beth enthusiastically rocks on her heels as they listen to her words.

Justin, Leshawna, Izzy, and Noah are all off on their own doing their own thing. Justin hasn't seemed to have moved since this started, Leshawna looks to be more annoyed than tired, Izzy is… I'm not sure actually, and Noah has a book that I vaguely recognize from school. Moby Dick, maybe?

I study Leshawna and Noah, trying to decide which to approach before finally settling on Leshawna. I wouldn't want to interrupt Noah's reading.

I slowly approach the girl and when her eyes catch mine, she gives me a small grin and waves me over.

"Hey, girl." She isn't as boisterous as usual.

"Hey," I sit down on the log next to hers," Tired?"

She lets out a loud groan,"Is it that obvious?"

"A little," I admit to her, shrugging.

"Great," She says sarcastically, nudging me slightly.

I give her a small smile and try to keep my mind off the fact that neither of us will be getting any sleep any time soon.

* * *

"Gabbie!" A hand on my shoulder shakes me into consciousness.

"Wuh?" I shake the hand off, rolling away from whoever woke me.

"Gabbie, you fell asleep. It's a bathroom break if you need to go."

It's only then that I realize I'm laying on the ground. I roll myself over to find the source of the voice and find none other than Trent.

What's with people shaking me awake lately?

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Trent." I rub the sleep from my eyes and slowly sit up. Trent gives me a kind smile and offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up with him.

Looking around, I notice that there's not many people around. Heather, Gwen, Trent, Duncan, Eva, Courtney, and I are the only ones still here.

"Are all of you still in?" I ask the dark haired boy.

He shakes his head at me, pointing towards the mocha skinned girl,"Courtney is out. The two of you were the last two to go out so Chris let you sleep for a little bit."

"That's weirdly nice of him," I mutter around a yawn.

I watch Courtney walk out of the campground and go to follow before stopping in place. Turning back to Trent, I ask," Did you want anything? Something to help you guys stay awake I mean."

Trent gives me a strange look and replies," I don't think you can do that."

I roll my eyes," I didn't mean a damn energy drink, Trent. I meant something from the cabins. Noah brought a book, didn't he?"

Trent seems to catch on to my meaning and nods thoughtfully," Well, I would ask for my guitar, but I'm afraid it might just make us fall asleep quicker."

I shrug at his words," Alright, I'm gonna ask Gwen and Heather then."

He looks surprised at that,"Heather?"

"She's our teammate," is all I offer.

I make my way to the girls, aware that Trent is following behind me. Gwen looks up at my arrival with surprised pleasure, but Heather doesn't spare me a glance.

"Hey, Gwen. I'm heading back. You want me to grab anything from the cabins?"

She gives me a thoughtful glance and seems as if she's going to say no, but to my surprise she actually nods at me," Could you grab my journal?"

I give an odd thumbs up and she seems amused by this. She ushers me over and whispers to me where to find her journal.

I turn to Heather and ask her the same question.

She gives me a confused look," What do you want in return?"

"Uh, What?" I ask, baffled.

"You can't tell me that you're just doing this from the kindness of your heart," she crosses her arms and narrows her eyes.

"Well," I shuffle in my spot," I guess I want to help you win? We are a team, aren't we?" I stand there awkwardly as her stare pierces me.

Slowly, she nods,"Nail polish. On the dresser." She offers nothing else and so I merely nod and make my way towards the cabins, giving Trent and Gwen another smile as I pass them by.

I jog all the way to the girl's cabin, giving small hellos to some of the others I pass that had given up on helping their teammates stay in the game such as Leshawna and Geoff.

When I make it to the Cabin, I quickly locate Gwen's journal and Heather's nail polish and make my way back to my teammates who are still in the challenge.

"Gwen! Heather!" I call out as soon as I see them. They, along with Trent, all turn at my voice. I hand over their respective items and wish them luck, letting them know that I'm heading back to the cabins to rest some more.

They all seem to understand my need for sleep. Even Heather.

So, I take my leave, heading back to the cabins I had just left.

I take my time this go around, knowing that no one is counting on me to bring anything back to them. Of course this is probably the reason that Courtney somehow found me.

"I saw what you did, you know." The darker skinned girl startles me at first. I'm not sure where she came from exactly. For all I know, she's been following me since I left for the cabins the first time.

I'd like to think that I'm fairly observant. So the fact that I can't even place how long this girl has been following me makes her slightly terrifying. And also intriguing.

"And what did I do exactly?" I ask, picking up my speed slightly.

She matches me and makes quicker steps,"You cheated."

"I didn't." I don't speed up anymore, but my pace doesn't slow either.

"You did," she insists," I saw it.

Irritated at the accusation, I stop, causing her to stumble slightly," There were no rules that a teammate couldn't get something out of the cabin for someone. Neither of the things I got enhanced their playing ability. Therefore, I didn't cheat."

She opens her mouth to retort, only to close it. Courtney looks away, refusing to look at me. We fall into an awkward silence for a few moments, only for it to be broken by Courtney giving a loud sigh.

"I'm sorry," She pauses, as if deep in thought," I just… I wasn't going to tell. I just don't want you to go home so soon. I think we're kind of friends and… I didn't want my kind of friend to get kicked off for cheating." She looks down at the end of her small speech.

I find myself smiling despite her previous accusation.

"Courtney," She raises her head at my voice,"We _are_ friends."

She stares blankly before very slowly breaking into a smile," Good. I'm glad."

"But don't sneak up on me like that again," I tell her," That's really freaking creepy."

She blushes, embarrassed at that," Sorry."


	4. Cards and balls

"Owen, you can't keep eating your betting material!" He's not even listening to me anymore. I'm not even sure why I tried to say anything. When it comes to food, that boy has a one track mind.

"I told you we shouldn't have let him play, there won't be anything left to bet with when he's done," Heather complains loudly.

I turn to watch her as she slams down a dove chocolate onto the grass. Her pile of candy is much larger than everyone else's so I wonder why she's even complaining. Although, I do catch Izzy swiping things from her pile every once in a while. That might explain her ire.

"Lindsay and Beth both gave you their piles. I think you'll be fine," Noah mumbles under his breath next to me, causing a gross snort to escape my lips. He's not playing, reading instead, claiming our little game to be childish, but he's keeping up with every round. He catches my eye and shrugs his shoulders disinterestedly as if to say 'what? It's true.' I shake my head at his antics before turning my attention back to the game.

"I'll raise you a packet of skittles." The bag leaves my hands and I instantly regret it when I see Heathers smirk from the corner of my eye. I may have three Aces, but something tells me she probably has the straight.

"I'm all in!" Cody pushes his incredibly small pile of candy to the center.

"I'll call you, nerd." The tall girl meets his amount to her best ability. Our betting system is a bit flawed, but everyone has seemed happy with how it's been going so far.

I meet her gaze for a moment and quietly contemplate my choices. I easily have enough to call Cody, but if Heather has a better hand, I'm just wasting my candy.

I feel a nudge in my side when Heather is distracted by one of Owen's large burps. Noah seems to have given his book a break as he looks to me,"She's bluffing."

"And how do you know that, exactly?" I ask him.

He frowns a bit," She has a tell. She flips her hair when she bluffs."

My brow narrows in disbelief. Noah must see this because he shrugs thoughtlessly before going back to his book," Do what you want. Just offering some wisdom since it seems I'm the only one on the team with a brain."

The comment stings slightly and is what makes me decide not to trust the boy. I fold my cards silently and watch to see how the round plays out. Leshawna flips the last card onto the ground and Cody slumps slightly. Heather remains calm, but I can't help but notice the way her body tenses just the smallest bit. They both flip their cards over and they have absolutely nothing. Heather ends up winning with the high card.

Noah grumbles irritably from beside me and I know he's noticed the same thing as me. Heather played me like a fiddle and Noah was the only one to see it coming. With that thought, I take a minute to marvel at the boy. He's intelligent. Much more so than anyone has given him credit for.

"Well," I stand slowly, my body making various popping sounds," I think that's enough for now. That's the Bass coming our way."

We all, sans Trent and Gwen, wanted to stay up to see who the other team had voted off despite the tiredness each and every one of us felt. Heather looked ready to drop any moment.

I grab my large pile of candy and make my way to the other team, a few of the others following right behind me. Owen stays back to eat the candy Heather has left and Beth seems to have fallen asleep.

DJ and Courtney quickly speed up once they realize I'm waiting for them. Or maybe it's because they spotted the junk food. It could be both actually.

"Hey Gabs!" The dark skinned boy greets me joyfully,"Is that candy?"

I nod and hand them both something from my arms. I note the panic on DJ's face when he sees the bag of gummy worms, but shake the strange thoughts that leaves me with away. Courtney seemed apprehensive at first, but grabs the small, hard candies that we had given the lowest value to when betting.

The rest of their team gives us strange looks, but stop as well when they see the exchange. Geoff perks up, asking if there's any candy for him.

"Sorry, dude. You aren't as cuddly as DJ and you're not as pretty as Courtney."

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, but catch the pleased look from DJ and the embarrassed one from Courtney. Geoff slumps slightly and trots away in obvious sadness. It actually makes me feel kind of bad. The rest of the team seems to realize they won't be getting any treats and slowly slumps their way to the cabins.

"So, you're short one from this morning." I think everyone already knew who was going home, but we wanted to make sure.

The caramel skinned girl sighs loudly, slipping the small candy into her mouth," Eva had to go. She was a menace to society."

DJ starts to protest, but seems to agree as he shrugs his shoulders. Damn, if DJ doesn't like her then she really must have been something.

"Sounds like it," Is all I offer as I'm cut off by a yawn.

Courtney smiles at the sight,"You should get some sleep. Your team seems to have already decided to."

I turn to find that I'm alone with the two. Except for Beth who is still passed out on the ground, surrounded by cards.

"Yeah, I should probably make sure she gets to an actual bed, too." I nod toward the snoring girl.

"Need help?" DJ is quick to ask, but I shake my head at the boy.

"Nah, you guys go get some sleep." I wave them off. They look like they want to protest, but think better of it at the last minute. They walk away with bright smiles.

I make sure to wake Beth up and pick up the leftover cards before heading to sleep myself.

* * *

"This is bringing back a lot of horrible memories from freshman year," I whisper to the brown haired girl on the sideline. She laughs quickly before smacking my arm, shushing me.

I shrug before stepping back to my team's bench. I catch Heather's glare and wonder why she has such a problem with me talking to Courtney and DJ. It's not like I would ever help them win a challenge.

Taking a seat next to Noah, I watch Tyler fling balls recklessly, "Aren't jocks supposed to be good at this?"

He shrugs, obviously not interested in what is happening on the court. I'd like to talk to him about last night with Heather, but I'm not sure how to.

"So," I mumble," You- uh- you've gotta be pretty observant to figure out someone's tell in a card game you weren't even playing."

It's supposed to be a statement, but it comes out as more of a question. It catches his attention though.

"Sooo glad someone noticed," the words come out dripping in sarcasm.

I huff loudly," How did you do it?"

He eyes me for a moment before seemingly making up his mind," I'm used to watching people, I guess. You watch them enough and you can figure out what makes them tick."

I hum quietly to myself, processing his words. For a moment, I wonder if he's figured me out too. If Noah would just contribute to the challenges, he could probably win the entire game. I decide to tell him as much.

He, predictably, laughs at me," What exactly am I supposed to do playing dodgeball? I'd be no help at all. The best way I can help is staying the hell out of the way. I can't dodge, catch, or throw for shit."

Part of me understands where he's coming from, but a larger part of me just feels irritated at him for not even trying.

"Look, Gabbie, I know what I'm doing. Okay?" And with that, he stuffs his nose back into his large book.

It was worth a try at least.

"Gabbie! You're up!

I stand, knowing that I, like Noah, probably won't be able to offer much help to the team this competition, but determined to try.

That will be the difference in the two of us I decide. He can sit and make no effort, but I will at least try no matter how big of a fool I make of myself.

"Coming!" I trot onto the court only for a ball to sail right past my face. I let out a small scream, flailing even though it came nowhere near me. A sheepish apology comes from the other side of the room and I find that it came from my CIT friend. She must have went in while I was talking to Noah.

"Wanna play like that Miss CIT?" I grab the ball that had previously come close to slamming into my face and sling it over to the other side. It completely misses Courtney, but by some stroke of luck, it manages to smack Bridgette in the chest. The blonde girl looks on in confusion for a moment as Courtney laughs at me," Totally meant to do that!"

Bridgette gives a small smile at my exclamation, but is quick to shake her head in disbelief. I stick my tongue out at my friend when she keeps laughing at me, but our little game of fun ends when a ball soars across the line to hit me right in the nose.

"Ow," I mutter as Trent lifts me from the cold tiles.

"Woah, you okay? That hit was kind of intense." The boy takes my arm and leads me to the bench. I assure him I'm fine, but he fusses for a few more minutes over my small head wound.

"I'll be back in the next time you guys need me," I tell him once it's his turn to go in after Heather catches a ball.

Trent nods, leaving me alone with my other teammates. I'm left with the bookworm and a sleepy Gwen. Gwen struggles to stay awake still and eventually decides to just rest her head on my shoulder. There's a small rumble coming from her just seconds later. It's not really a snore, but something close.

My attention is brought back to Noah when I realize he's staring at me in confusion. It makes me slightly uncomfortable so I finally ask him,"What?"

He shakes his head once,"You should have just stayed on the benches. You would have been better off letting the others go."

My lips turn down as I point out," I still hit someone."

"By accident."

"I still tried," I shift again, becoming slightly uncomfortable with the weight on my shoulder, but unwilling to wake Gwen.

Noah never responds to me after that. He merely watches me for a few more minutes as I hold his unsettling gaze. He eventually looks away, offering me one last sentence," She's drooling by the way."

I look down to find that Gwen is indeed leaving a wet patch in my shirt," Oh, ew!"

* * *

Noah is voted off. It doesn't come as a big surprise, I suppose, but it saddens me nonetheless. It had come down to, Lindsay, Noah, and I tonight. It wasn't shocking that I was in the final three tonight, but I had no doubt who it would be.

I decide to catch up with him before he leaves to tell him goodbye seeing as everyone else is angry with him.

"Hey," I wave slightly when he looks up from the ground.

He looks upset for a moment, but his usual look of annoyance is back so quickly that I'm left wondering if I imagined it.

"Gabbie," he offers monotonously.

Well, this is awkward.

"I just wanted to say bye. I know everyone seems pissed, but I'm sure they'll miss you."

He looks to the ground and back up quickly, seeming uncomfortable," They won't. I didn't really make an effort to get to know anyone," he shrugs before tacking on," I should have listened to you."

That confuses me," What do you mean?"

"You told me to try and I didn't listen. I mean, you sucked really bad out there-"

"Gee, thanks," I scowl, but he continues as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"But at least you tried."

His words cause me to shuffle awkwardly. He's not wrong, but I don't want to seem like an ass and say I told you so. He seems to catch on to my unease and gives me what seems like a genuine smile.

"Be careful with Heather, Gabbie," his expression turns serious," I don't what she's up to, but it's not good. She's a liar and a good one at that."

I nod a his words. It's actually something I've started to notice too. Ever since that card game, I've found myself watching her.

"Thanks, Noah." I offer gratefully.

The loud rumbling of the boat catches our attention and we realize that our time to talk is running out. The boy offers his hand out to me quickly and I stare for a moment, confused. It isn't until he shakes it slightly that I realize he wants me to take it. I do so and give it two small shakes.

"Thanks, for giving me a chance I mean." With those words, he tosses his things onto the boat and gives me a small nod.

"Bye, Noah." I say once he's gone. I think we would have been really good friends if he had stayed.

I don't stay there for long, too afraid of the strange noises coming from the water. Making my way back to the cabin, I'm intercepted by a frantic Courtney and sad looking DJ. Hearing my footsteps, they perk up considerably.

"Oh thank goodness! We thought you were gone. DJ and I got here late and were waiting for you, but you never came and-"

"Courtney," I grab her arm gently," I'm okay. I just wanted to see Noah off."

She calms considerably, but quickly pulls away,"I- it's not like I was worried. We all knew you would be safe."

DJ gives her a strange look before shaking his head and pulling me into a hug," Glad you're still here, shorty."

I hum quietly," Me too, DJ. Me too."

Gently, I pull away from the giant boy to ask," Wanna play some cards?"

His face twists in thought before answering," I'm not sure our teams like us spending so much time together alone. Maybe we should get everyone together?"

Courtney quickly nods her assent at the suggestion.

Not seeing the problem with it, I grin enthusiastically, "Okay. Group card game night it is."


End file.
